1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical head for reading the information written on a recording surface of a disc or writing information on a recording surface of a disc, and an optical disc drive using the same such as a CD/DVD device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the conventional structure of an optical head is disclosed in the official gazette of the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-123297. According to the configuration of the optical head disclosed in JP-A No. 2003-123297, a laser driver (hereinafter, it is referred to as a laser driver IC) is arranged between a carriage and a holding sheet metal provided on the lowermost surface of the carriage (hereinafter it is referred to as a housing) in the vicinity of a semiconductor laser.
In the case the laser driver IC is arranged in the vicinity of the semiconductor laser, the heat generated in the laser driver IC is conducted to the housing in the vicinity of the semiconductor laser to raise the temperature of the housing. In the case the temperature of the housing rises, the temperature of the semiconductor laser rises as well, and consequently the performance and the life of the semiconductor laser are affected, and thus it is problematic.